1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an oil intake structure of an engine for suctioning oil located in the lower portion of an engine casing into an oil pump through an oil strainer.
2. Description of the Background Art
Various oil intake structures of an engine are known in the art. For example, Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 166205/89 discloses an oil strainer chamber defined by a partition wall in the bottom of an oil pan, with a self-locking door provided in an opening formed in the partition wall. The arrangement it is intended to keep the oil level in the interior of the oil strainer chamber constant to thereby prevent air inclusion in the oil strainer.
In the above conventional oil intake structure, since the upper portion of the oil strainer chamber is open, high-temperature oil dripping from the cylinder head flows directly into the oil strainer chamber, then through the oil strainer into the oil pump. Consequently, the engine cooling performance is diminished by allowing the high-temperature oil to be immediately returned to the oil pump for delivery to the engine parts.